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12/17, Rockingham Mall, Salem, NH
Having been to the store several times, it was very, very crowded.

People were buying iPods. At one point, I heard a store worker quitely tell others that they had just run out of iPods.

Were people buying Macs? Hard to tell. I would say that the Macs on display on the right side of the store did not have lines of people waiting to get a try. Trying FCP on a Quad was a great experience.

The store was very sufficiently staffed with red shirted sales people. The Genius Bar was relatively empty.

From what I could tell, nothing else was "Sold Out".

Anything else notable about your visit? - Just a very positive attitude from everyone, Apple products are finally getting the respect they deserve.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Mall of America - Bloomington, Minnesota

Was the store crowded?
PACKED!
Were people buying iPods?
Lines 7 to 10 people deep, over half with iPods...

Were people buying Macs?
Several people in line with Macs...A couple of iBooks, a PowerBook, and at least two iMac G5s...

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
It was! (And this was the Saturday before Christmas!) I had to get my nephews iPod fixed at the Genius Bar, and only had a 15 minute wait!

Was anything sold out?
Not that I noticed

Anything else notable about your visit?
I was cherfully asked several times if I needed help with anything - even though the place was jam-packed! I don't know about other Apple Stores, But I've only had good service from this one!

 
I've been looking for a way to best tell of my recent experience!

The Apple Store location: 
North Point Mall, Atlanta

Was the store crowded?
Well, there was a mob scene ongoing there at the Apple Store. Funny scene, in that everybody managed to remain undaunted within their endeavors - nobody was turning away empty handed, let me tell you. I stood there stunned for a moment studying the crowd. Decided not to hurry things so, since I was standing right next door in front of Victoria's Secret, I realized I had a proper excuse to stand there and window shop for a time, ogling all those secret apparel thingies! Hmm. Victoria's Secret was empty except for a few who entered the store with their iPod bags already securely tucked beneath an arm. This year, I bet the Victoria Secret people are not at all unhappy about being located next door to an Apple Store!

Buying iPods?
Oh, God! It was a slap and snatch kind of thing with iPods being slapped on the counter and then being snatched away before Santa's supply might become exhausted. The line... It was another monster, perhaps one straight out of Narnia.

Buying Macs?
Ha! Were they? This is North Point Mall, a place where people buy whatever whenever, usually all the time. I was standing in line awaiting whatever might be occurring up front while I scanned my horizon carefully for the most attractive happening around me. I saw this obvious executive type escorting his teenaged daughter and her friend into the Apple Store. It appeared that exec was having his chance at quality time with his daughter. He walked into the store with some serious business in mind. His daughter walked up to the first table she encountered, grabbed a model iPod Nano, and said, "This is what I want, Daddy!" That father looked hurt in his reaction as he clammered, "Don't you want to look at anything else while we are in here?" A salesman, knowing a good deal when he sees one, stepped right up with an iPod package in his hand. So armed, he led those three on an excursion among the finest Apple Computer has to offer. Last I observed of them, those girls' eyes were bulging in their unexpected opportunity to enlarge their selection of Christmas goodies. That's the North Point atmosphere, I'm afraid.

Sufficient staff?
I kept seeing examples of multiple conversations going on at the same time. Sales persons didn't have much of a choice in the matter because of the strident demands about them. Everybody was sort of nice about all the interuptions since people knew ahead of time that they would be lucky to get a moment of personal attention. There could have been twice as many sales persons gainfully employed while I was there. But, let me tell you something here. Mark, the iguy I've learned to depend upon for personal attention, looked as if he had just finished a twenty mile forced march. Mark is exhausted beyond easy measure yet he is still in there plugging away with serious conviction knowing he can be of help to people in need. There's no finer example than Mark (You'll know him by his mustache!).

Was anything sold out?
Dang if I could tell. I didn't see anybody leave empty handed.

Anything else notable?
Yeah. The cashier made an effort to determine if anyone in the store had helped me. That's how I remembered that Mark has a mustache. And more... It is a rare moment when I can walk out of a store and encounter the envy of others who can see that I'm carrying something from the hottest store in the mall! Now that's really funny!
 

Short Hills (an upscale mall in NJ)

The store was packed the whole time I was there last week. Great service at the Genius Bar for a dead HD in my 12" PB. I saw constant sales of Ipods for holiday gifts and about 10 CPU sales over the 3 hour period.

I returned today to pick up my PB. It was even more crowded with about 25 people in line for checkout with 5 registers and an Ipod express line hustling. What amazed me today was the amount of non-Apple merchandise being sold....speakers for Ipods, cases, cables....all in addition to Ipod and CPU pick-up at the register. It looked like a really busy electronics store. I wonder what margin Apple makes on all this non-Apple stuff.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Short Hills Mall, New Jersey

Was the store crowded?
Crowded isn't the right description. In comparison, the T-Mobile store had about 2 customers.

Were people buying iPods?
LOL is there anything else?

Were people buying Macs?
I saw iMacs and various laptops being bought. Overheard a salesperson pushing a Quad on a creative type.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
Seems so. Could use more cashiers.

Was anything sold out?
Not sure. I got my 60gb and was happy.

Anything else notable about your visit?
Never seen so many actual buyers in any store outside one of those Black Friday scams at BestBuy.

The Apple Store at the Grove is still full of beautiful women and famous actors and actresses.

This is not a current story, and it wasn't at Christmas time, but there's no Apple stores around Edmonton Alberta (yet...) and so when I was last in LA I dropped by the Glendale Galleria store. I wound up chatting to one of the staff and told him that I simply wanted to see an Apple Store, and he gave me a neat Apple note pad in one of their store bags as a souvenir. Nice gesture... no, not the biggest deal in the world, but on the other hand, he didn't have to do it.

iDon't and iWill,
It was me. Sorry that I runied your Christmas. But on the bright side I loss 38 lbs during that little episode. Trust me, to get the smell out of your hair wash it in lemon and tomato juice.

I went to the Bellevue Square store just a few days ago. The iPod Express line was out the door, but not too long. It took less than ten minutes to buy a 30 GB iPod and be on my way. The store was busy, but not packed. When I went back to pick up some software I was looking for, it took less than five minutes to get checked out. No snobbery or long waits here.

This is for the guy who needed a fan...Apple Stores do not sell service parts directly to customers. It will compete with Apple Authorized Service Providers. To just buy a fan, you'll have to see a 3rd party AASP to get one. As for the turnaround time, its first in, first out. They may have too many repairs to turn your computer around any earlier.

Store in Highland Park doing brisk biz, as always. But, they would get more of my $$$ if they did not charge me anything to return stuff. Other retailers (not Apple stores) don't. I've never understood why the people most capable of checking the condition, rewraping, retwisting, and reboxing their own products don't offer the same "satisfaction guaranteed" promise without penalty.

Brea CA

It was about 7pm and the place was crowed. The to purchase was to the back of the store. It was fully stocked and people were buying ipods and laptops.

Marlton NJ
Yes very crowded
yes almost all were buying iPods
a few were buying Macs
the store was staffed well but how well can you staff a stuffed store.
nanos and shuffles were sold out last evening.
This morning I went for a iTrip with dock connector, there was a line of at least 40 people for the cashier, however the manager had the handheld Symbol credit card checkout thingy and I was in and out of the store in under 5 minutes, I rule and Apple rocks!

iDon't,
Oh my gawd, oh my gawd!!! You live in Austin? No wonder you are so freaky. I went to UT "Hook 'em Horns!" If you come to the Rose Bowl wear pink cowgirl boots so I can spot you. Hmmmm, guess that won't work because most of the UT men and women wear pink (y'all just call it burnt orange). LOL

MW = had. Like in half of Austin has had iDon't.

Richmond, VA....store packed, about 45-50 people. Staff helpful, but some seemed understandably frazzled. A lot of iPod buying, a lot of iPod accessories being purchased. Everything in stock. A lot of energy & obvious excitement in the store.

Also visited the nearby Bose store, where I was told that their biggest seller was an iPod stereo dock system.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Apple's backyard, Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara

Was the store crowded?
Very, probably the most crowded in the mall, same as last year

Were people buying iPods?
Yup, the "iPod Express" line went down 3/4 the length of the right side of the store

Were people buying Macs?
Didn't even look, i was in the iPod line. People were definitely looking at Macs though.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
Seemed like everyone that had a question was talking to an employee.

Was anything sold out?
1gb shuffles, not sure what else

Anything else notable about your visit?
I managed to do my entire Christmas shopping in one visit in there.... shuffle for my mom (who wants one for jogging), $50 iTunes gift card for sister, universal iPod dock / remote for other sister (my mom had already taken $100 from me to go toward my dad's present).

I never go to downtown Chicago without dropping by the Apple store on Michigan Ave. The last time was the weekend before Thanksgiving a big shopping day downtown.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Michigan Ave downtown Chicago

Was the store crowded?
Very, very; had to sneek back in during the Festival of Lights parade on Michigan Ave to get to the Genius Bar.

Were people buying iPods?
Oh, yes! I went there just to try out a video iPod.

Were people buying Macs?
Some

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
Very well staffed

Was anything sold out? Didn't try to buy anything.

Anything else notable about your visit?
I went there to tryout a video iPod. I couldn't believe the only demo video on the iPod was the U2 video. I wanted to see some animation, some TV shows, some video. The other thing I noticed is they never change up their display much--the store always looks the same. I guess new products should be the draw, not the scenery.

Just got back from the Apple Store in Cherry Creek Mall, Denver, CO. It was PACKED! There were 2 lines that had at least 20 people each. Everyone was buying something. I wanted one of those MAudio musical keyboards but they were sold out. People in line talking about wanting a Nano, but they were sold out also.

Yay!

These observations were made on Dec 20.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Honolulu, Hawaii
Ala Moana Apple Store

Was the store crowded?
Yes, probably 80 - 100 people in this relatively small store.

Were people buying iPods?
Yes, a separate line was created where people can purchase only iPods with credit cards and would receive their receipt via email. This line alone was 10 - 15 people deep.

Were people buying Macs?
Yes, although most people were buying accessories for their iPods and computers, I saw at least 5 seperate people purchase computers, within the 1-2 hours I spent there. It seemed like a lot of people were looking at the new iMacs.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
In general I would say yes, however it looked like there were people looking at products that had questions who were not necessarily getting sufficient help, however I don't expect any retail store that is packed to the brim to be able to maintain their standard level of customer service.

Was anything sold out?
I believe the black 4gb ipod nano was out, but am not entirely sure.

Anything else notable about your visit?
Other than one lady paying cash ($10s and $20s) for her new iBook and printer, nothing worth reporting.

Where was the Apple Store lcoated?
Stonestown Mall, San Francisco

Was the store crowded?
Reasonably; depends on the time of day.

Were people buying iPods?
Oh, yes -- they have a special display and sales area just for those.

Were people buying Macs?
Yes -- several while I was there.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
Yes, all of them cheery and pleasant, despite the crowd.

Anything else notable about your visit?
This was one of a number of visits lately; this particular visit (to buy an Airpot Extreme) the salesman was even more than usually chipper and friendly. It's a nice store; I've never had a bad experience there.

Where was the Apple Store located?
Knox St - Dallas, Texas

Was the store crowded?
Increadibly crowded

Were people buying iPods?
Oh yeah

Were people buying Macs?
A couple

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
I'm not sure that is possible with the number of people in the store.

Was anything sold out?
Both 2 & 4 gig Nanos and 30gb iPods

Anything else notable about your visit?
One notable thing is that they are adding another store very close to the Knox St store. If you were in a 6 story building half way between the two you could clearly see the apple on both stores, except for the fact that the new one is in a mall. My guess is that they are less than 2 miles apart. The new one will open about the same time as the Expo in January.

Burlington, MA, today. Lots of people almost all looking at ipods and ipods accessories.

Just visited both apple stores in St. Louis today. The one in the Galleria had people standing in line 10 people deep waiting to check out. The bigger store in West County had several in line and plenty of folks looking.

Last week I went to the Apple store in Kenwood Mall, Cincinnati (one of the first Apple stores to be opened) with a lady friend why wanted to buy a nice present for her husband, who likes jazz. I suggested a Nano. Jason, the clerk, was a tall, handsome guy (just graduated in Graphic Design) who charmed my friend and showed her how iTunes and iPods work. He spent a lot of time and a crowd gathered to watch.
Jason showed her the different iPod models -- she picked two 30 gig black Video iPods for her husband and son, a white 30 gig for herself, plus a case and AppleCare. She wants to put movies on the iPods for her grandchild to watch. After Christmas she's bringing her husband in. Jason promised to give him a full course in iPods and iTunes. I bought a lanyard for my Nano -- and an iSight for scanning barcodes for books and CDs - I use Bookpedia and CDpedia.
The store was crowded but service was swift and pleasant. I've been in there so often the staff calls me by my first name. No one had to wait for service. Everything was in stock.
Most of the action was for iPods. The number of customers looking at Macs didn't seem to be any greater than at any other time of the year. One reason the staff was in such a great mood was that Apple Stock hit $75 that day. (I bought my 1,000 shares at $12). I told them not to sell for less than $90.

the Brea Mall store was awesome!! very crowded but plenty of people to help

12/19/05 Observation

Where was the Apple Store located?

Apple Store at the Northridge Mall in California.

Was the store crowded?

Yes, very, but you could still move around. Definitely one of the busiest stores in the packed mall.

Were people buying iPods?

As a thrilled stock holder I was tickled to see the iPod Express line for people just buying the best music player in the world. About 15-20 people in line.

Were people buying Macs?

Definitely. And 23" LCD monitors, etc.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?

Yeah, lots of Apple men and woman wearing their festive red Applet-shirts. The staff at Norhtridge is very helpful btw and love helping people and steering them from the Dark Side. Recently they swapped out a logic board and CPU for my 2.7Ghz G5 and told me it might take up to 4-5 days and then it took only 1 day! The repair tech had worked all day on my machine.

Was anything sold out?

Didn't seem to be. I came in to buy a Lacie 250Gb Firewire drive.

Anything else notable about your visit?

Just my intense satisfaction at seeing the world beat down Apple's door to buy their products. 2006 is going to be a killer year for Apple despite some of the analyst Bozo's seeing them slipping up. What they fail to realize is that Apple is a moving innovation target and doesn't stand still like Microsoft does. They make mistakes too but they are busting their butts to put superior technology along with the all important ease of use in people's hands.

Just went to the Michigan Ave. store in Chicago at 9:15pm. It was one of the few stores open on the road. There were about 40 people in it. Not very crowded for such a large store, but it was definitely more crowded than any other store around (nothing else was open). There were about 4 people in line, mainly with small boxes. Didn't look too closely, but it seemed like they had boxes for sale of most of the major products. There seemed to be enough people there for the number of customers.

Spen half an hour in the downtown San Francisco APPLE store Tuesday night. It was packed. Every model of Mac was busy, the iPods likewise, and I had to wait 15 minutes to get my hands on any keyboard (attached to a fast little mini, as it happened). People were crowding into the store as I arrived and walking out with purchases as I left. Plenty of store staff thre to help but not pushy. If this is typical, Mac's retail operation is a great success, over and above the success of the products themselves.

Northbrook, IL, Apple Store - My friend works there. He says that being open extra early (8am to 10am), it is a great time to stop in and see a Genius if you need one; the store is dead. But, don't wait until later (10am), because by then it is packed.

When I stopped in around 3pm yesterday, you could hardly move with so many people in there. It seemed like a weekend. They had plenty of iPods, even the rare 1Gb Shuffles and every size/color Nanos.

In the 30 mins I was there, I saw one guy buy 2 iMacs, and another guy leave with a 30" monitor. Mostly, it was an iPod frenzy at the iPod sales table. I witnessed a guy buying 3 (Three!) 60 Gb iPods ($1200!!). But it wasn't just all iPods, there were many people looking at the computers. They could have used more sales people on the floor and geniuses behind the bar, but no one seemed to be upset. It was rather quiet and friendly for such a crowd.

Apple seems to be well stocked and prepared for such a rush. I was impressed. I have heard other people say that the Apple stores are the only place that still has iPods and the even more rare iHome clock radios in stock in the Chicago area.

Popped into the Bluewater store, UK a month or so ago. My sort of shopping hours -- mid-week, mid-morning so not too crowded! Applestore was not on the mall guide so tracking it down was a bit hit and miss. I've only been to the London flagship, so Bluewater was smaller than I was sorta expected. The Genius I asked about Airport and EyeTV wasn't too genioid on either, but polite enough. I saw some iPods and a Mini being checked out. I purchased some bits and bobs. Since bought an iPod via www as I wanted it engraved -- superb return service: speedy and efficient, as have other web purchases this Christmas.

ps. Video performance is really top -- just what I wanted.

Located in Green Hills mall in Nashville, TN
Moderately crowded.
Store was sufficiently staffed and very knowledgeable.
AFAIK - nothing was sold out

This was my first mac and the experience at the Apple store was heavenly - seriously. I had been to Best Buy looking to purchase a Mac Mini. The Best Buy employee spent great amounts of time attempting to talk me out of the purchase - even to the point of making fun of mac users. Also, at the time the 512MB Mac Minis had been out for some time but the Best Buy store was only selling the 256MB models - for the full price of course. Then I went to CompuUSA and unfortunately they didn't have the 512MB models in stock - and the employee wasn't exactly friendly.

Why didn't I go to the Apple store to begin with ? Because the other stores were a lot closer.

Eric

Apple Store at Rosedale Mall in the Twin Cities, MN.

It was quite busy, but there were also plenty of Apple people available for questions.

People were buying all sorts of things, including Macs, iPods, software, and accessories.

They also had a special "iPod Express Lane" just for people buying iPods. They had little wireless devices they were using to take your credit card info and then they'd email your receipt to you.

Went to Bridgewater store in NJ last week. Hard to believe such a little store can hold so many people. Must be breaking the fire code or something. Impossible to get to try the computers because of teenagers ichatting and emailing on them. Most everyone leaving the store had an Apple shopping bag. A lot of dealings going on. While I was there some iMacs and minis were sold. iPods were flying out the store. Not sure if anything was out of stock. I picked up a set of new headphones for my nano and some games for the kids. Staff looked frazzled but friendly. They should get extra help for the holidays. They seem to be twice as busy as the other stores nearby (they're in a mall).

I went to the Gateway Store in Salt Lake City again last night.
There were about 70 people in line to buy and 40 or so milling about the store.
It appeared that about 2/3 were buying iPods (including myself...the 4th iPod in our household). The young woman in front of me bought 3 4GB nanos and 2 30GB iPods!
I also saw a lot of computers being purchased. They were checking people out not only at the regular check out and the iPod Express line, but the Studio was also checking people out.
There were not, however, enough staff to help everyone. I was a little confused, at first, where I was supposed to get the iPod...and not enough employees to ask for help.

Went to the Old Orchard store in Skokie, IL in the late morning. There were about 45 people there, not too crowded - a good number of people for the size of the store. I saw several iPods be sold and a couple Macs - didn't really count since I was distracted by all the fun toys. There seemed to be enough people working there. I heard one of the sales reps getting close to closing a deal with a former Windows user - the couple loved the form factor of the iBook and was basically complaining to the Apple rep about why their PC was not very good.

For comparison, around the corner, a Sony Style store just opened and there were only about 20 people there. Two of the first 5 computers I saw said something like: "Windows cannot boot because the following file is missing." I saw several kids in there who looked rather bored and were actually playing solitare on the computers.

Just got back from the Apple Store in Old Town Pasadena. The lines were ridiculously long, for the Express Lane and the regular registers, but they were moving fast. About the average amount of people playing on computers or even less, but largely, I think, because everyone was worried about losing their place in line. Crazy. Guy in front of me was getting the 15in PB and there were a number of computer sales going on. I'm all for incremental growth in the computer part of Apple.

@One who knows. If you have to buy a fan from a 3rd party. Then were in the H*ll is Apple's quality

Yes, Apple hardware is the best, but then people buy parts from other sources, instead of Apple's genuine parts dept.

Where was the Apple Store located?

The Falls Mall Miami

Was the store crowded?

Yes when most of the upper class mall wasn't

Were people buying iPods?

Yes, I got five myself.

Were people buying Macs?

A few, I got one, all the machines were being used.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?

Yes, even the manager was helping

Was anything sold out?

Not that I could tell.

Anything else notable about your visit?

Made multiple visits and it seemed pretty steady in buisness.

I checked my local Radio Shack for iPods and they said they got a 5 one day and seven the next and both were sold out within 20 minutes each day.

Where was the Apple Store located?
The Gateway (SLC)

Was the store crowded?
Absolutely

Were people buying iPods?
Yes, including myself.

Were people buying Macs?
A few, iPod mania seemed to have the store in its grip, though most of the demo computers were occupied.

Was the store sufficiently staffed?
Hmm... Almost. Most people who needed help got it, but I had to resist the tempatation to start selling things myself. I don't get commission from Apple yet, though I should.

Was anything sold out?
Black iPod nano 4 Gb. Definitely. But Salt Lake City is experiencing a massive outage of nanos.

Anything else notable about your visit?
The Gateway store was the most busy store in the entire mall. I have returned several times since I bought my nano, and it is always full.

anyone who farts in a croweded store should be dealt with swiftly and harshly....mob mentality rules....do you mind if i smoke?